In the digital world, Kierkegaard's thought is valuable in thinking about aesthetics as a component of human development, both including but moving beyond the religious context as its primary center of meaning. Seeing human formation as interrelated with aesthetics makes art a vital dimension of human existence. Contributing to the debate about Kierkegaard's conception of the aesthetic, Kierkegaard, Aesthetics, and Selfhood argues that Kierkegaard's primary concern is to provocatively explore how a self becomes Christian, with aesthetics being a vital dimension for such self-formation. At a broader level, Peder Jothen also focuses on the role, authority, and meaning of aesthetic expression within religious thought generally and Christianity in particular.

People tell a story about their lives ‑ a thesis like this is popular in philosophy, cognitive psychology, and cultural studies. However, there has been no detailed argument for this thesis nor even an adaquate theory of narrative language. The present book offers to correct this. It is additionally an independent contribution to the theory of personal autonomy and an analysis of the concept of personality. Biographical stories articulate special practical reasons, and persons are autonomous beings in that they are receptive to these reasons.